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Understanding Violence

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Course Date: 03 September 2014 to 15 October 2014 (6 weeks)

Price: free

Course Summary

Violence is among the top three leading causes of injury and death in the US and globally. We will focus on different disciplinary approaches and perspectives to understanding and potentially preventing violence.

Estimated Workload:
3-4 hours/week

Course Instructors

Deb Houry

Debra
Houry, MD, MPH, is Vice-Chair for Research and Associate Professor in the
Department of Emergency Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine and in
the Department of Behavioral Science and Health Education and Department of
Environmental Health at the Rollins School of Public Health. She is the
Director of the Emory Center for Injury Control and PI on the CDC Injury
Control Research Center grant. Dr. Houry has authored more than 90
peer-reviewed publications and book chapters on injury prevention and violence.
She has been the recipient of several national awards, including the first
Linda Saltzman Memorial Intimate Partner Violence Researcher Award from the
Institute on Violence, Abuse, and Trauma and the Academy of Women in Academic
Emergency Medicine's Researcher Award. She is the President-Elect for the
Society for Advancement of Violence and Injury Research and is the President of
Emory University Senate.

Pamela Scully

Professor Scully is Professor of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality
Studies, and Professor of African Studies at Emory University. Her most recent
book is Sara Baartman and the Hottentot Venus: a Ghost Story and a Biography,
co-authored with Clifton Crais (Princeton, 2009, 2010). She is finishing a short biography of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia. She writes generally on sexual violence, transitional justice and feminist theory. She teaches courses on the history of sexual violence in wartime and post-conflict, genealogies
of feminist thought, and gender and transitional justice. Professor Scully is the Director of Emory’s Center for Faculty Development and Excellence. She is also Treasurer and Membership Secretary of the International Federation for Research
in Women's History and past editor for American subscriptions for the Women's History Review. She serves on the editorial board of The Journal of
Women’s History, The Journal of British Studies, The Journal of
Peacebuilding and Development, and Social Dynamics. Professor Scully
works closely with the Institute for Developing Nations, a partnership between
Emory University and The Carter Center, which focuses on collaborative research
regarding issues of poverty and development.

Course Description

Violence
is a leading cause of death, disability and health care use in the United
States as well as worldwide. Although significant progress has been made in the
last few decades, there remains a great need to further reduce the frequency of
violence and its long term effects. Violence causes approximately 50,000
deaths each year and over 2.5 million injuries in the U.S. each year, with an
estimated annual cost of $70 billion. Furthermore, violence does not occur in a
vacuum; the consequences are also felt through other medical conditions and
health behaviors and individuals, families, and communities affected by
violence are often irreparably altered.

Violence is a complex
problem and can only be understood and reduced though a multidisciplinary
approach. The course will cover the
epidemiology of violence; roots of violence including biological,
psychological, and social causes (e.g., economic deprivation, religious
factors); specific types of violence; media and the arts portrayal of violence;
the business/economic impact of violence; physical and mental consequence; and
ways to control and prevent violence in our communities, including criminal
justice and public health approaches. Through
these perspectives, the course will deepen our understanding of violence in
local, national, and global contexts.

Upon successful completion of this course,
students will be able to:

1.
Demonstrate knowledge of the problem of violence in the U.S. and globally, as well
as the long-term effects.

2. Analyze the causes of and associations
with violence from a multidisciplinary perspective.

3. Explore
different solutions and programs for the prevention of violence.